ARTIST

Emmanuel Beyens is a figurative painter specialized in the art of portraiture established in Brussels.

His first artistic experience dates back to when he was 12 years old when he took a drawing course for the first time in his life at the French school in Rio de Janeiro. At the end of the lesson, the teacher gave the students an assignment to do at home: draw a self-portrait. Full of enthusiasm, he applied himself the best he could. For once homework was fun! A week later, when the homework was handed in by the teacher, all the students were between 10/20 and 18/20, except Emmanuel Beyens. He had received a 0/20! "But why?" he rebelled. "Because a boy your age couldn't have drawn that! It's necessarily an adult who painted your portrait!" replied the teacher. Subsequently, he improved his drawing skills by making caricatures of his teachers; it was his way of rebelling against the education system imposed on him. He switched to painting when his mother gave him a box of gouache when he was twenty two years old. She told him: "Take it and do what you want with it, I don't use it anymore."  He used the box of gouache to paint a portrait of his father for her. Since then, Emmanuel Beyens has not let go of his brushes. To train as a portrait painter, he attended an academy in Brussels, then advanced courses at the Vlamish Classical Atelier in Bruges and at the Florence Academy of Art. In 2011, Emmanuel Beyens won the 1st Prize for Painting at the Salon International du Portrait with his painting "Le Maharadja".

His interest in portraiture never left him. Favoring oil painting, he painted in the manner of portrait painters of the 19th century. An Italian general, a Belgian princess or a Lebanese heiress, each portrait aims to capture the true personality of the subject. Visit the portrait gallery .

​